Impingement freezers are well known in the art. Impingement freezers quickly freeze products by impinging refrigerated air onto the product which may be carried through the freezer on a conveyor belt. The impinged air may be directed onto the product by nozzles or by plates with perforations or channels for directing the air onto the product from above or below the product or both.
Plate freezers are also well known in the art. Plate freezers are typically used to freeze flat products or products packaged into flat packages or containers.
In some applications, both impingement freezers and plate freezers are employed which requires the dedication of valuable factory floor space for each separate freezer. It would be desirable to provide for both types of freezing in the same device to minimize the use of factory floor space.
The limitations of the prior art are overcome by the present invention as described below.